Speak up — you won’t be sorry and it might even make your day

Her next comment surprises me; “I’ve seen you dance, Ron, I mean Mr. Walker,” she says, looking quite pleased with herself for speaking up. She obviously wasn’t repelled by seeing me dance and I should have immediately asked her where she saw me dance, but a touch of embarrassment keeps me from any further investigation. This very nice lady paid me a compliment and it made me happy. It brightened my day. You might call it a brief encounter of a personal kind. The drive back to Smith Valley Is a pleasant one. 

A few days later, I enter on a grocery shopping spree at the Walmart in Gardnerville. Walmart offers battery driven carts to patrons who would rather ride than push a shopping cart. The carts are like “bumper” cars used at amusement parks decades ago, although I have never bumped anyone (been close a time or two, however). I invariably become quite relaxed and hustle up and down the aisles in a most carefree manner. Since I’m sitting down, people sometimes offer to reach items on higher shelves for me. Maybe it’s the latent show business element in me, but I like being noticed and I have had some truly interesting encounters.

 In this particular instance, I skid to a stop next to a cart full of soft, cuddly, stuffed animals. “Wow, it looks like you cleaned off the entire shelf,” I blurt out to the lady whose cart it is. She must either have a very big family or else she’s going to a very big birthday party. The lady looks down at me with a soulful expression and says, “I’m sending these to the babies in the Ukraine.” Her words are simple and direct. “What a wonderful idea,” I reply and mention an article I’d read in the newspaper that morning about a former Green Beret who was going to Poland to see if he could help in any way. “I read that article too,” the lady says and we chat briefly until I finally press on and finish my shopping.  

Good things happen to me on a regular basis. I think it’s because I am open to people. There is something interesting about every one, and obeying the instinct to offer a comment is imperative to keeping life interesting; don’t hold it in. The lady at the Chevron and the one at Walmart are good examples of what I’m talking about. Speak up — you won’t be sorry.

Ron Walker can be reached at walkover@gmx.com